Rihan, the 18-year-old high school student detained by ICE earlier this month and held for more than two weeks at a Massachusetts county jail, has returned home.
President Donald Trump on Saturday said he has canceled plans to send U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan after Iran's chief negotiator left Islamabad after speaking only to Pakistani officials.
Administration officials on Wednesday softened their predictions of an end to the Iran war and its turbulent effects on energy prices. read more
A proposal that would require California to verify proof of citizenship when a person registers to vote -- and require voters to provide identification at polling places -- will appear on the November ballot, state officials announced Friday.
Seven in 10 Americans feel like the economy is getting worse, according to a Fox News poll released Thursday, tied for the most negative reading in the survey's history. The poll, conducted April 17-20 among voters, arrives at a moment of deep economic pessimism. Inflation and high prices ranked as the top concern for 26% of voters, followed by the economy and jobs at 17%.
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Apropos of late?
And still in Australia ...
Little River Band - Lonesome Loser (live)
www.youtube.com
And ...
Trump evacuated from the room at the White House Correspondents' Dinner
www.nbcnews.com
... President Donald Trump and other high-ranking administration officials were abruptly evacuated from the room at the White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner Saturday night following a security incident.
Secret Service agents swarmed the ballroom at the Washington Hilton Hotel, where some reporters, administration officials and dignitaries ducked under their tables amid the confusion.
It was not immediately clear what prompted security to stop the event and usher Trump out of the room. Other attendees remain in the ballroom.
Some attendees reported several loud bangs, but were unable to place them or identify the source.
NBC News reached out to D.C. police, the Secret Service and the Justice Department for more information.
Saturday marked Trump's first time attending the dinner as president. Trump had been the only president in the event's centurylong history not to attend at least once while in office. In years past, presidents have typically endured a light roasting from the dinner's headliner, typically a comedian. ...
Ongoing reporting ...
Attendees reported several loud bangs before evacuation
www.nbcnews.com
... Trump and other high-ranking administration officials were abruptly evacuated from the room at the White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner tonight following a security incident.
Secret Service agents swarmed the ballroom at the Washington Hilton Hotel, where some reporters, administration officials and dignitaries ducked under their tables amid the confusion.
It was not immediately clear what prompted security to stop the event and usher Trump out of the room. Other attendees remain in the ballroom.
Some attendees reported several loud bangs, but were unable to place them or identify the source.
So You Want to Negotiate with Iran ...
www.politico.com
... President Donald Trump recently dismissed claims he's anxious to end the Iran war, insisting on Truth Social that he's "possibly the least pressured person ever to be in this position" and has "all the time in the World."
If only.
Trump and his aides could use some more time to think through what they want to accomplish in discussions with Tehran's Islamist regime. The administration's preparations for launching the war were ... not great, and its negotiating efforts so far have underwhelmed. Ending the war " and keeping it ended " is almost certain to prove more complicated than Trump aides suspect.
The administration has a number of fundamental questions to sort through, people who have dealt with Tehran in the past tell me. That won't be easy given the president's rhetorical waffling.
"The details are incredibly important," said Michael Singh, a former George W. Bush administration official who dealt with the Middle East. "Each new administration has to learn those details the hard way. The Iranians on other hand are often the same or similar teams who have negotiated these terms with multiple American administrations. You may receive what you think is a concession by the Iranians, but when you delve into it, it's a concession from you to Iran."
I'm still not convinced Trump is ready to genuinely commit to diplomacy with Iran, despite the ongoing ceasefire. He loves using military force and knows that Iran remains the weaker side, even as both the U.S. and Iran wrestle over the fate of the Strait of Hormuz. But at some point, the global economic fallout that is hurting both Americans' wallets and the country's reputation may force Trump to the negotiating table. ...
@#4 ... A majority of Americans believe President Trump is to blame for a surge in gas prices ...
Meanwhile, Pres trump seems to be saying to voters ...
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Do You Love Me? (1996)
www.youtube.com
77 percent blame Trump for gas prices: Survey
thehill.com
... A majority of Americans believe President Trump is to blame for a surge in gas prices, as the conflict with Iran continues to strain the global economy, according to a new survey.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll, released Friday, found that roughly 77 percent of registered U.S. voters said Trump bears at least some responsibility for the rise in gas prices, compared with 22 percent who disagreed.
The view that Trump is at least partially at fault was shared by voters across the political spectrum, with 55 percent of Republicans, 82 percent of independents and 95 percent of Democrats agreeing, the survey shows. ...
@#18 ... The Arabs rejected the creation of Palestine in when? 1948 ...
That may be an over-generalization ...
1948 Palestine war
en.wikipedia.org
... The 1948 Palestine war[b] (30 November 1947 " 10 March 1949) was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine.[16]
It began as a civil war between the Arab and Jewish communities following the United Nations Partition Plan and became an international conflict with the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel,[c] the termination of the British mandate, and the entry of the armies of neighbouring Arab states into Palestine.
During the war, Zionist forces[d] conquered about 78% of the former territory of the mandate causing the expulsion and flight of over 700,000 Palestinians.
Jordan took control of the territory west of the Jordan River and Egypt occupied the coastal territory around Gaza.
The war formally ended with the 1949 Armistice Agreements, which established the Green Line de facto borders of the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. It was the first war of the Israeli"Palestinian conflict and the broader Arab"Israeli conflict. ...
Like all things when the Middle East is involved, it's complicated.
But in the spirit of this thread, here's the song that started my playlists this evening.
I was 11 years old when I first heard this song, and I enjoyed it from the first time I heard it. I still enjoy listening to it. ...
The Seekers (live, HQ Stereo) - I'll Never Find Another You / With My Swag All On My Shoulder, 1968
www.youtube.com
The Seekers were an Australian folk group who were often thought to be English ...
Another view of Palantir ...
Palantir employees are talking about company's "descent into fascism"
arstechnica.com
... It took just a few months of President Donald Trump's second term for Palantir employees to question their company's commitments to civil liberties.
Last fall, Palantir seemed to become the technological backbone of Trump's immigration enforcement machinery, providing software identifying, tracking, and helping deport immigrants on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security, when current and former employees started ringing the alarm.
Around that time, two former employees reconnected by phone. Right as they picked up the call, one of them asked, "Are you tracking Palantir's descent into fascism?"
"That was their greeting," the other former employee says. "There's this feeling not of Oh, this is unpopular and hard,' but This feels wrong.'"
Palantir was founded -- with initial venture capital investment from the CIA -- at a moment of national consensus following the September 11, 2001, attacks, when many saw fighting terrorism abroad as the most critical mission facing the US. The company, which was cofounded by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, sells software that acts as a high-powered data aggregation and analysis tool powering everything from private businesses to the US military's targeting systems.
For the past 20 years, employees could accept the intense external criticism and awkward conversations with family and friends about working for a company named after J. R. R. Tolkien's corrupting all-seeing orb. But a year into Trump's second term, as Palantir deepens its relationship with an administration that many workers fear is wreaking havoc at home, employees are finally raising these concerns internally, as the US's war on immigrants, war in Iran, and even company-released manifestos has forced them to rethink the role they play in it all. ...
@#4
Yeah, that seems to be a good summary.
And now, if I may be so bold to ask ...
WTF are these two Trump morons doing negotiating with Iran for the US?
Asked differently, what experience do they have in international negotiations?